MATTHEW TANGEMAN PHOTO
I heard a commotion up the hillside and looked up just in time - bighorn athletic prowess on full display near Moab in January.
FEBRUARY 2026 - HAPPY NEW YEAR?
Well, seems it didn’t take long for this “monthly newsletter” to fall a bit behind schedule, but my mind’s been elsewhere and really, there’s nothing wrong with hibernating for the darkest months of winter. I hope you enjoyed the holiday season however you celebrate, and welcome the days getting longer.
As I type this, I’m en route to Patagonia for my fourth season to work on a climbing film project, get some gear reviews done, make art and hopefully find some time for some personal alpine climbing projects in between getting battered by the weather. I’m fully expecting to trade our “summer in winter” here in SWCO for a “winter in summer” down south - despite the calendar showing summer down at the southern tip of the Americas, the forecast is looking colder and wetter than anything we’re experiencing in Colorado right now. With all that in mind, this is a pretty climbing-heavy issue!
A note to clients - I will be unavailable for work until later in the month of February. Email or WhatsApp is the best way to get ahold of me in the meantime.
Onward!
Self portrait while soloing the Torment-Forbidden Traverse in the North Cascades, WA, September 2025. A beautiful day marked by the effects of climate change on full display - regular visits to these mountain landscapes can offer a more acute perspective on paradigm-shifting climactic changes. Eldorado Peak, visible in the background, had lost it’s status as the only non-volcanic ice-capped summit in the lower 48 just weeks prior. The Inspiration Glacier, draping the mountain’s east face, was in full ablation and had just split in two for the first time in probably over a hundred millennia. The Taboo Glacier, the first obstacle of the traverse, had effectively disappeared the month prior; where I had been expecting to cross ice, I walked across dry bedrock. The air was choked with wildfire smoke. There was a lot to mourn and ponder. I’ve been trying to gather my thoughts in writing on this day for months. Still working on it.
WINTER PRINT DROP.
Really hoping for a strong monsoon this year after such a dry winter. Photo taken near the Mancos River wash south of Towaoc, CO.
Thanks to all of you who have purchased a print so far - I’m feeling the love!
The sale is still going, but not for too much longer - the last day to place an order from this collection will be February 27th. After that, I’m going to start getting ready for a spring drop.
Special to you all, use the code wintersolstice for 20% off an order.
Pieces will be available on archival-grade fine art paper and matte aluminum.
RECENT WORK.
THE STORY OF THE MONTEZUMA INSPIRE COALITION.
This was my favorite project of 2025. In addition to highlighting so much of the incredible work MoCo non-profits are doing to get kids outside in our beautiful backyard, creating this also felt like writing a love letter to the region. Thanks MIC, for all you do.
CASCADES ROCK.
I pulled this handful of images together while curating photos for the second edition of Blake Herrington’s Cascade Rock guidebook (not yet released). There are some deep cuts in here and big throwbacks from the last 10 years for those that love the North Cascades.
The Aurora Borealis over McPhee Reservoir, Dolores, CO, November 2025.
RECENT ADVENTURES.
FULL CABBAGE.
Suraj Kushwaha on the “Full Cabbage Roof”.
I guess you could call this a “subscriber exclusive”, the first cut made from a mountain of footage I’m beginning to sort through. I detest a vertical aspect ratio as much as anyone, but that’s what I have ready right now, so bear with me!
Deep in Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains, nearly 20 miles from the nearest road, sits Mt. Hooker, a hulking massif of billion year old gneiss and an American big wall testpiece. It was put on the map for climbers in the mid 60s, when Royal Robbins took the big wall skills he developed in Yosemite and applied them to the nose of Mt. Hooker for the first ascent over the course of a week. Globally, it was first “big wall” climb ever done outside of Yosemite Valley.
I spent two weeks in the Wind River Mountains this past summer, documenting the efforts of Stefan Hadeed and Suraj Kushwaha to establish a new route on the north face. This is a project they’ve been working on for 5 years and that will continue for at least one more - without getting too lost in jargon, the difficult and pure style in which they are establishing this climb is what makes it take so long, not to mention the short annual climbing season.
This video covers just one pitch of the climb - The Full Cabbage Roof - which, at 5.13b, is incredibly difficult but far from the crux of the whole wall. Nearly every pitch on the route is in the 5.12+ to 5.13+ range.